


Just a Minute

by Diary



Category: Scandal (TV)
Genre: Angst, Bechdel Test Pass, Bottle Episode Fic, Canon Character of Color, Canon Gay Character, Canon Queer Character, Conversations, Gen, Gen Fic, Hospital Setting, Male Friendship, Missing Scene, POV Male Character, POV Queer Character, POV Tom Larsen, Post-Episode: s02e07 Defiance, Season/Series 02
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-04
Updated: 2016-05-04
Packaged: 2018-06-06 06:43:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6743590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Diary/pseuds/Diary
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A look at Tom and others after Defiance. Complete.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just a Minute

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Scandal.

“After her landing on the south lawn of the White House, Vice-President Sally Langston gave this speech…”

Walking past the waiting room couch, Tom picks up the remote and tosses it to a nearby agent before First Lady Grant can grab and throw it at the TV.

His phone chimes, and digging it out, he sees a text from Hal. _A nurse is yelling at me. Help._

Sighing, he goes to the surgery ward and finds, standing outside of it, Hal is indeed cringing under the set face of a young nurse in Winnie the Pooh scrubs.

“You’re dead on your feet,” she insists. “You need to get home.”

“Ma’am-”

Coming over, Tom says, “Agent Rimbeau, we need to talk about Vice-President Langston’s new detail. Excuse us, ma’am.” He grabs Hal’s non-injured arm and tugs him away before she can respond.

Hal sighs. “I’m not leaving.”

Producing his keys, Tom says, “I need a new suit. So do you. After you do whatever you need to do at your house, go to my apartment, room 6C, and get one for me. Feed my crab and iguana. If you see an upside down shell in the aquarium, don’t worry. That just means she’s shed it and is hiding somewhere. Get some of that Canadian soft drink the First Lady has been drinking so much of lately. When you come back, the nurse will probably have gone off-duty.”  

Groaning, Hal says, “I don’t want to leave.”

“You can help everyone, including the President, more by doing all of this than you can by staying.”

Hal take the keys. “What are their names?”

“What?”

“Your crab and iguana.”

“Oh. Her name is Sebastian, and before you say anything, a little kid in the complex named her. His name is Marlon Brando. Again, he was pre-named before I got him.”

“Got it,” Hal heavily says.

He leaves.

Tom goes to stand outside the surgery ward.

An hour later, morgue attendants appear and start to enter.

“The young woman, sir,” one of them stops long enough to tell him. “Not the President.”

He nods and watches as, a few minutes later, organ transport containers and a gurney with a zipped body bag is wheeled out.

Absurdly, his first thought is, despite her petite stature, Kagen was never this tiny, and she was certainly never this still.

When another agent comes over, he realises he doesn’t even know how long he’s been standing in Hal’s spot. “The First Lady is holding a press conference outside,” he’s told. “Here’s a list of all the agents who’ll be on it.”

He scans through the list. “Not O’Malley. Is Jameson available?”

“Yes, sir,” the agent answers. “They both said you’d say that. Kellie arrived fifteen minutes ago. Liam is complaining.”

“I don’t care. Make sure it’s her instead of him in the crowd. Will the First Children be present?”

“No, sir. Foxcraft and Foxhound are at Camp David.”

"Where exactly outside?”

The agent tells him. “We’ve made sure all civilian vehicles have been relocated, and Agent Wong is in charge of inspecting all media ones.”

“Nearby buildings?”

“All occupied from top to bottom. Some of them are marines and Homeland, but they’ve all been versed on our protocols.”

“Number of sharpshooters?”

“Ten, sir.”

He nods and hands the list back. “Besides Falcon and Foxtail, who else is in here? Pope? Kingmaker? Butterfly?”

“Pope is here. Kingmaker is in the Castle. Butterfly is in Calico. No one else is here, sir.”

“Keep an agent near Pope, and get me if there’s something I can do.”

The agent nods and leaves.

By the time Hal gets back with the soda and a fresh suit for Tom, the President has been wheeled into recovery.

In the bathroom, Hal guards the door while Tom wipes himself down with wet towels and changes. “Sebastian waved her claws menacingly at me. Marlon Brando hid in a sock. I’m assuming that sock was supposed to be in there?”

“Yeah,” he answers. “He used to sneak out of his cage and invade the laundry basket. Finally, I just started putting a sock in there for him. If I’d thought, I would have told you to play Beethoven on my IPod.”

“I thought you didn’t like classical music.”

“I don’t, but he does.”

Hal nods as if this makes perfect sense to him when it still makes no sense to Tom. “Maybe you should think about getting home for a few hours.”

“I’m fine.” He finishes tying his tie. “Ready?”

“I’ll take watch over Falcon. You go make sure everyone is doing what they need to be doing,” Hal says.

“Okay.”

They leave and part ways.

On his way to the waiting room, he sees Cyrus pacing and talking on his cell phone. “James, I know, honey. Yes, I promise. This has been a nightmare. More than anything, I wish I could…”

He sees Olivia Pope talking to First Lady Grant and edges closer.

“I have to take care of the baby!”

“Mellie, you know that I understand that. The sedative is perfectly safe. Right now, all this stress and you not sleeping isn’t good for either of you. Please, take it and lie down for a few hours. I promise you, if there’s a radical change, I will have the doctor wake you back up. Your baby will be fine. Look, at least, drink some of….”

Noticing his arm is shaking, Tom walks until he sees the hospital chapel. Peering in and seeing it’s empty, he ducks inside, slides down onto a bench, and looks at his watch.

At ten seconds, he jumps when he hears, “You held out much longer than most would.”

“Sir.”

When he starts to get up, Cyrus adds, “Stay. How bad is it?”

“I’m fine, sir. I just-”

“Need a minute,” Cyrus supplies. “I understand. You have no idea how many times I’ve been there. Catch.”

Tom catches the water bottle.

“We now have two Presidents. Sally Langston was sworn in. I will be the first to say I neither like nor agree with this development. But the country runs on even when rightful Presidents fall. Check on Mellie and the kids, go home, and report for duty at the White House tomorrow. Do not let something like this happen to her.”

He nods, takes another drink, closes his eyes, and listens to his breathing.

“Your minute’s up, Agent Larsen.”

Opening his eyes, he takes the hand Cyrus offers. “Yes, sir.”

Leaving the chapel, he sends a text to Hal, goes back to the now darkened waiting room, and tells a nearby agent he’s signing off duty.

Going over to the cot someone has brought in, he sees First Lady Grant is blearily watching TV with a hand underneath the curve of her belly.

“President Sally Langston was sworn in today at…”

Tom slides the soft drink on the table out of her reach, watches as she frowns, and then, slips into sleep, and slides it back into place. Seeing a nurse coming over with a blanket and more pillows, he leaves.


End file.
